The human foot contains twenty-six bones, each having a unique size and shape. The foot can be divided into three main sections, the rearfoot, forefoot and digits (toes). The rearfoot consists of the Talus and the Calcaneus bones, and forms the shorter pillar of the longitudinal arches of the foot. The Forefoot consists of the Navicular, the Cuboid, the three Cuneiforms and the five Metatarsals and forms the longer pillar of the longitudinal arches of the foot. The digits comprise the great toe, or Hallux, which comprises two Phalanges, and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th toes which comprise three Phalanges. The digits are involved in adaptation and fine movement but are not very important in the stability and function of the foot and posture.
The foot also contains thirty-three joints. Each joint connects the ends of two bones and they allow those bones to move on one or more of the body planes within certain ranges of motion. The foot also contains over one hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments which provide leverage, mobility and stability as they expand and contract. The muscles, tendons and ligaments can move the rearfoot and forefoot as flexible units or they can keep them in a strong arched position. This means that and they can allow the both pillars to be very rigid and supportive or very flexible or adaptive or any combination of the two at different times and under different circumstances.
The human foot can differ substantially when comparing the feet of individuals. Even a single individual can have significant differences between their right and left feet. These massive and diverse differences can produce a seemingly infinite number of possibilities when trying to classify and categorize human feet into groups in order to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of various pedal and postural conditions and diseases. Accordingly, some of the most basic questions in foot care remain unanswered: Why do certain feet develop abnormalities while others do not? Why are foot and postural problems inherited? Why does a treatment regimen work for certain feet, but fail in others? Why do certain feet develop deformity, degeneration and pain while others do not? Why are certain feet skilled for one function yet other feet have difficulty performing the same function? The foregoing questions lead to the study and classification of feet into types in order to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of pedal and postural conditions.
Early prior art methods for classifying foot types grouped feet according to specific characteristics, namely the three medical arch types: low, normal and high. Other types of feet have been described as the “Greek Foot”, “The Morton's Foot” and the “French” or “Peasants Foot”. These simple classification systems continue to be used by practitioners to diagnose and treat conditions, as well as to facilitate the fabrication of shoe lasts, insoles and orthotics.
More recently, the “Root” theory focuses on Subtalar joint (rearfoot) control in order to improve ground reactive support in feet to prevent degeneration and deformity and classifies unhealthy feet by pathology such as compensated subtalar varus or uncompensated forefoot Valgus. Most of the advances in function lower extremity biomechanics during the last three decades are based on “Root” theory, and focus on Subtalar joint range of motion and deviations from Subtalar neutral position in order to diagnose and treat a human foot. Howe
Accordingly, the prior art methods for classifying feet are limited in their scope and often fail to properly and accurately classify all feet. Therefore, there is a need for a method of profiling feet into a uniform system that classifies and types every possible foot, and to use the specific foot type to diagnose and treat various pedal and/or postural conditions in order to improve outcomes, reduce failures and allow practitioners to offer care when it comes to prevention and performance issues.